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Mercedes driver George Russell reckons Red Bull has had a brilliant off-season and will be favorites to win the 2024 F1 World Championship.
As quoted by The Race, Russell highlighted that Red Bull had been on a roll since new regulations came into effect in 2022. Hence, the Brit feels the team is a top candidate to win in 2024.
He also believes that the Milton Keynes outfit had a successful winter break, during which they developed the RB20.
“They are in such a great momentum at the moment. They started these new regulations on the front foot and they came here and have been solid ever since. So, they are definitely the favorites, definitely a step ahead of everybody else here in Bahrain. They’ve had a massive winter no doubt, but that was to be expected,” said Russell.
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Red Bull won 21 out of 22 races in the 2023 F1 season. They accumulated 860 points in the Constructors' Championship and won their sixth title with ease. Thanks to their dominance in 2023, they were able to start developing their 2024 F1 car much earlier than the other teams.
On day one of the 2024 F1 pre-season testing, Max Verstappen successfully topped the timing sheets, finishing 1.14 seconds ahead of the pack. Sergio Perez then finished second on day two of the testing.
Max Verstappen lauds Red Bull's bold approach while developing the RB20
Max Verstappen was happy to see Red Bull take the risk to develop new parts of the RB20 instead of using last year's car with small updates. Speaking to Sky Sports, he said that he loved how the team did not make a 'conservative car' for 2024.
"I do like what the team has done. It is not a conservative car, it is not like, 'Last year was a great car, we will just add a few bits and will try to make it a little bit faster'. I do think they have been quite bold and that's what I like, they have been quite aggressive. Everyone is very positive, everyone is very motivated, and I'm just very excited to learn more about the car," he said.
The RB20 has some design elements that were inspired by the Mercedes W13 and W14. The thin vertical side pod shape on Red Bull's 2024 challenger is reminiscent of what the Silver Arrows were trying in 2022 and 2023. Since Mercedes failed to make the zero-side pod concept work, there were many question marks about whether the RB20 would be able to perform.
